Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-11-19

''the lady ought TO be fiattered Are you
going to make any stay here"
"Yes; / have taken rooms az the little
village inn, and shall stay week or SO, l
think, in spite of my disappointment
u hope 4 air rsay do you good and re-
store your rength,n said Miss Douxil, cour-
teously Good morning, Capt, 0wen.n
And esa hurried away, thankful that she
had tod Mary not Co let any oue know tnot
even acLl that she had written her letters
20. In,
o. her arrival at homo she made her
rataar grim aunt laugh ly her story OF the
& 'catric Capt. Owens matrimonial inten-
.ots toward Miss Lonax, and Mrs Bell dc
cided that, as q hero, Y. C., and "a charac-
ter, she would write % Capt Owen to in
vito him to dinner
The invitation was accepted, and Capt
Own, frank and light hearted hero as he
wsrs enlivened tie old hall considerably,
and proving to be tho son of an old friend of
Mrs Bells, won at once her ikingand favor.
His weeks stay in the village was pro
longed considerably, but he soon exchanged
his rooms at the inn for one at tho rectory,
Mr. Lomax having taken great fancy TO
him; and then this funny love story anus
ing tho rector greatly his suspicious were
directed by him rightly toward his unknown
correspondent. II CHANGED that the very
morning he had been so enlightened he met
Miss Denzil in the park. He joined her, as
was his wont, and they walked on together,
But Richard Owen was no longer in his usual
high spirits, and after a while his companion
asked anxiously if he was still suffering from
his woundl
mo, he said, rather sadly, "my wound is
healed, but am horribly ashamed of myself
/ should like to know what you thought of
my disgraceful nonsense about Miss Lomax.n
What / thoughts Well, | thought it
rather good joke she said, blushing.
"a joke only If you had been Miss Lo-
max, should have had a ee'-eagerly
II can't really tell what | might have done
or said IL had been Miss Lomax, she an
swered, little nervously,
"Ahl Miss Denzil, it was not joke ON
my part at all; | vowed that my CORE
spondert should be my wife il possible: at
least, that | would ask her. But instead Of
the poor rcctors daughter / find her an
heiress, and she might think me fortune
hunter if | told her of my resolution What
can do?''
Miss Denzil's eyes were on the ground and
her checks blushing, but she said softly:
ASK herr"
And he obeyed
They walked back to the hall some time
afterward to tell Mrs. Bell that the hitherto
unwinnable heiress had plighted hand and
heart to the young soldier.
THAT half jest was, after all, the wisqst
thing | ever uttered" said Capt Owen; "sor
unless had told you of my sincere admira-
ton before | knew who you were, / should
never have had courage to hint at my love
for you, Nary
II thought you the most absurd person |
had ever seen,' said Mary, laughing; land
yet--and yet was pleased, for l saw you
really meant that you liked me-"
They were married a few months after
ward.
Mary Price and John Parker had been
settled already in a cottage on the estate and
Miss Danzil had taken care to provide for
her humble friends, for without them, as she
used to say, she and her gallant husband
would never have met
And yet" she would add, "when we I'M
dertook the correspondence Of those poor
lovers, who could ever have thought what
would come Of it'll Valentine in Home
Chimes